Team Animalia (UNDER RE-WRITING! CHECK FOR CHANGES)

Chapter One: Arcia's Birth

--Seira--

The year is 3056 in the country of Syntoria. Most of the planet has been taken over by man-eating monstrosities known only as the mutants. To ensure the survival of humanity, Sytoria and many other countries like it created colonies: areas with high-voltage fences that surround the perimeter to keep out any mutants that may think of intruding. Nine of them exist in Syntoria: Raima (my home), Electix, Minthré, Nobi, Shakyoro, Zakroth, Vezlar, Anthorak and Thurin. Each one is slightly different, but it's not freedom.

The place where I live, Raima, is the stereotyped 'poverty' colony. Almost everyone is below the poverty line and very few buildings are left in a good condition. Many kids are orphaned like me, but there are a few rich people from Minthré that have moved here recently.

I haven't met a single person that doesn't want to have the mutants eradicated and the fences torn down. The government sends out soldiers periodically to try and destroy them, but few ever end up coming back alive to their families. What we need more than anything is a hero.

And who am I? I'm just an orphan. You can call me Seira. This is the the story of how I--and my friends Mia, Seth, Ravenna, Blake and Eli--changed forever.

***

It started out just like any other day. I got hungry, dug through the trash, and found something half-decent to eat before the cops assumed I was up to no good and started chasing me. I kid you not, this happens pretty much every day for me.

"Seira Stardale!" The lanky cop yelled at me, barely looking authoritative enough to arrest a stick for being dropped in the wrong place. "Stop immediately and drop the stolen merchandise!"

"No!" I immediately yelled back, "It's trash! No one wanted it!"

"We...didn't ask...you what it was." The pudgy one said between breaths. I looked back and smirked. This guy's face was covered in a sheen of sweat and was lagging behind his partner after only five blocks, waddling like a toddler that had only recently learned how to walk. Looks like fatso here had one too many doughnuts.

"If you refuse to comply, we'll have to use force!" The twig guy threatened, a voice crack prominently ringing through the air.

I saw an alleyway up ahead and chuckled, then taunted, "If you can even catch me." I darted into the alley and began to take the most confusing path I could think of. Alleys were a pretty bad place to get lost in. If you weren't careful, you'd end up walking in circles with no sense of where you were-which was what I wanted the cops to do. It was actually surprisingly easy since this particular alley had no distinctive ways to tell where you were.

I lured the cops in and ran around the loop as fast as I could, their footsteps getting farther and farther away from mine. When I could no longer see them, I took the opposite forked path and didn't stop until I saw a familiar heap of torn fabric and various other things. At least it was home.

I sat down and held out the bread scrap at arm's length. All this for a burnt piece of food--if you could even call it that. Weird. Without a second thought, I quickly scarfed down the bread and curled up in my rags. Those guards were so clueless. Just like them...I could get away with anything I wanted to back then.

My head throbbed as I tried to remember, but I had no such luck. I had just ended up giving myself another unbearable migraine. Great.

My hand absentmindedly drifted to my bag and dug around until I had found the familiar, circular make-up pact. One of the only clues to my past. Memories of the day I awoke came flooding back.

***

It was a white room flooded by bright incandescent lights that almost seemed to blind my just-waking eyes. I was laying in a bed with wires hooked up to my arms; which were in turn hooked up to various machines. Nothing except a thin blue gown covered my body under a scratchy blanket. Various unfamiliar faces were staring at me. The scariest part: I had no idea who I was. I had no idea where I was. How old was I? How long had I been here? I wanted to cry in frustration. In fact, my eyes were starting to water.